August 25, 2016

What is it?

Tellagami is a mobile app that allows you to create a 30 second animated video of yourself. Essentially you get to build your own avatar!

How Can I Use It?

Again, prepping for back to school - you can have your students create a video of their summer vacation. You can watch mine here.

Now, the free version is limited in what you can do and the creativity your students can have. Tellagami does offer an edu version for $4.99 that eliminates in-app purchases.

Book reports - have your students give a quick report of why they like their book and why others should read it. They can download an image, save it to their ipad and use it as the background of their report.

What I Like

This is perfect for those shy students who do not want to get up in front of the class. Our students today are used to living in a virtual world. This app is a fun way to break the ice that first week of school.

In the free version there are different ways you can share: facebook, twitter, email and text. This could be a fun way for students to do an update if you have a class twitter account!

Downfalls

30 seconds is short. But it is a fantastic way to teach your students that they need to be convincing, especially if you are working on opinion pieces.

The free version has a lot of in app purchases. But we know that. If you are using the free version you can not type your message and have them avatar read it.

This also may have just been my ipad - but I did not have any sound when I previewed my gami. However, it played fine when I emailed it.

It is only available in the app store, so many teachers will be limited.

Should I Purchase?

I KNOW that your money is spread thin. I definitely think that this is something worth pitching to you admin. For $5 you can have your students build their public speaking confidence.

But for the price, the only big difference is the amount of backgrounds you can have.

So try it free first because you can always upload images from your library as the background.

How do you use Tellagami in your classroom? I'd love to hear more ideas!

August 21, 2016

Giveaway closed -Congratulations Lori!

You guys I am so excited for YOU!

I have a chance for you to win a $10 gift card to Teachers Pay Teachers. Actually, I have at least 20 chances for you if you keep hopping. I am teaming up with some awesome educators for this gift card blog hop.

Why?

We want you to have the Best Year EVER and what better way than by getting some of your wishlist items!

How To Enter

Check out the rafflecopter below. It is only open for 24 hours! A winner will be randomly selected Monday morning.

**Bonus!**

I am going to give away a FREE product! You commented what resource you would love to have and someone will get!

August 18, 2016

This week we are talking about Kahoot! Have you heard of it or does it sound like something from a cartoon?! Well today I want to take some time to share with you what I have learned and how you can utilize it in your classroom.

No I am not a tech guru or an expert in these apps BUT I am just like you. I love the idea of technology and I learn through hands on use!

So, What Is Kahoot?

A fun way to create learning games for you to use in your classroom. Each student gets to play by using their own device. However, your students do not need to create an account! They simply put in the game pin for the kahoot you want them to play.

Each student will be working on their own device. However, there is full classroom engagement as the students are only using their device to respond to the questions. The rest of their time they are engaged with the teacher.

How To Play

The teacher goes to create.kahoot.it and signs in.

From there you can create your own kahoot or select one from over 9 million! Let's pick one for James and the Giant Peach. When you select you kahoot it will pop up the screen below. This screen shows your students the code they enter to join your game. You will see the number of players on the left hand side. When it reaches to as many students as in your class, click start.

Below is the screen that your students will see. They put in the game code and their nickname to play. (Now, your students may try to put in an inappropriate name. Kahoot has got your back! Simply click on their name in the "lobby" before you start the game. This will kick them out of the game and they will have to re-enter.)

Now remember your students are engaged and need to be paying attention to the teacher. Only the teacher's computer is displaying the question and multiple choice answers.

From there your students will then look back to their device or computer and select the answer with the corresponding image.

What a fun way to do a review?!

Now when your students select their response they will then get either a correct or incorrect screen. The incorrect screen will show them the correct answer on the bottom.

The teacher page will show what answer the students selected but not the name of the students. I really like this feature because there will be no embarrassment for the students who may have selected incorrect responses.

How to Create a Kahoot

On the main screen you are going to select the purple New K! button.
Choose the type of kahoot you would like to create.

From there it is pretty self explanatory. Give your kahoot (game) a title and description. Chose who can see you kahoot, your audience and click go!

Next you will put in your questions. You will chose the correct response and also if you want to award points. (Points are based on who responds most quickly.) You may wish to start out with not awarding points.

Why Use Kahoot?

Technology is everywhere. As I have said before it can be overwhelming, especially if you are not sure where to start.

There is a reason I wrote about Kahoot first, it is so easy to implement! I want you to be excited about it and jump right in and use it as a survey for the start of school!

Kahoot is really out to make learning fun. You students will also appreciate being able to use technology. Teaching older students? Let them break out their cell phones! There is so much positive surrounding this one simple tool.

Read More

Kahoot has got your back with all of the information on how to use this platform. Read here for step by step instructions!

Watch

Watch me create a kahoot and show you around the site!

Tell me if you try it or how you use Kahoot in your classroom!

August 11, 2016

Technology is all around us. And if your district is anything like mine you are expected to utilize it daily. This can be easier for new teachers who are fresh out of college. They are fortunate to be exposed to this in their learning.

However, it can be a little more difficult for teachers who are in the classroom. While we may know about the new technology we may not necessarily have the time to explore it.

This was the scenario with me and Seesaw. I had heard about this app months before I ever even played around with it. Because that is the thing with technology. It has to be learned through hands on exploration.

So where do we find the time to do this?!

We are not always provided the Professional Development we want when it comes to technology. That's where summer comes in for me! This is the time I know many teachers are like myself and attending training and workshops.

This summer I attending an educational summit that focused on technology. I was super excited about it because I was being given the opportunity to hear more about what I was interested in.

Now I want to share it with you!

I will be doing a mini blog series on the technology I was excited to utilize in my own classroom.

Each week I will share a new blog post about a specific app that I feel may be useful in your classroom.

Technology can be intimidating and I want to help you feel more prepared to take the jump with it!

Mini-Series Schedule

Below you will see the apps/tech that I will share with you.

I will also show you any similar apps and ideas for use in your classroom!

Kahoot - 8/18

Tellegami - 8/25

Edomodo - Coming Soon

Padlet - Coming Soon

Seesaw

Click here to get an overview of how to use this awesome app in your classroom! I share ideas with how I used it with my Kinders.

Don't see what you need?

Feel free to email me at eatpraytravelteach@gmail.com or leave a comment if there is a tool you would like to know more about! I would be happy to share what I know or point you in the right direction!

August 1, 2016

As educators we are always growing and changing in our career. We spend the summers attending professional development and reading up on the latest strategies. If we want to stay current in our field and provide our students with the best education, it is what we need to do.

I am so grateful to be part of a company that believes in helping educators. I have said it before, but the whole reason that I enjoy being a teacher-author for Teachers Pay Teachers is because I can help teachers and in turn, their students.

We know that much of what we are required to teach is not covered by one book alone. We need to often supplement with additional resources for our students. So that is where Teachers Pay Teachers helps. Educators from around the world provide high quality supplement resources and curriculum. So how lucky are you that you can buy something that is tried and true. How do you know? It is from another teacher who has taught just like you!!

So what are you waiting for?! Hope over to Teachers Pay Teachers and check out some amazing resources. My shopping cart is already full! Don't forget to use the code BESTYEAR for an additional discount.